BIO: Capuchin friar Fr. Theobold Mathew founded the Cork Total Abstinence Society in 1838. His camp-style revivial meetings drew tens of thousands, his message a mixture of Catholic piety, Protestant-style self improvement and nationalism. One of his slogans was "Ireland sober is Ireland free." By 1840, the Society claimed that nearly half the population of Ireland had "taken the pledge" to abstain from alcohol for life. By 1842 that trend began to rapidly reverse due to Fr. Mathew's financial struggles, the fact that most priests were opposed to absolutism on the issue of drink, the Great Potato Famine, as well as the deeply rooted tradition of drink in Irish culture. Fr. Mathew traveled to America in 1849 and spread his message among the Irish there, returning to Ireland two years later. By the time of his death in 1856, Ireland's alcohol consumption had returned to its level in the mid-1830s. Fr. Mathew did succeed in establishing a total abstinence tradition in Ireland - although with a small membership, it continues to this day.